Grandson repeatedly threatened couple before fatal attack

MILL CREEK — Police in Mill Creek were worried Shane Hathaway would harm his grandparents.

Officers had been called to the couple’s house multiple times after Hathaway threatened to harm himself and his family. The 24-year-old has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, detectives wrote in an affidavit released Tuesday.

Hathaway is now behind bars, accused of killing his grandmother and injuring his grandfather Jan. 15 inside their Mill Creek home. He was being held on $2 million bail for investigation of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

Hathaway has declined to speak with detectives.

His grandfather, 83, called 911 just before midnight Thursday reporting that Hathaway had attacked him with a knife. He said he’d been stabbed in the chest and his throat was cut.

A Mill Creek police affidavit filed with the court quoted the grandfather describing how he was in his bedroom when Hathaway reportedly threatened to kill him.

He tried to de-escalate the situation but his grandson reportedly came at him with a knife. He fought the younger man off. Hathaway left the room and his grandfather locked the bedroom door and called for help. He told dispatchers he didn’t know where his wife was in the house or if she was harmed.

Officers found the woman, 83, in Hathaway’s room. She was lying lifeless in a pool of blood under a blanket. She had a deep wound to her throat.

Paramedics rushed her husband to the hospital.

Hathaway had fled the house. Officers searched the area and found him about three hours later, wearing only a jacket, socks and glasses. His hands and socks were bloody, police wrote. He had cuts to his right hand.

Officers located a butcher knife between Hathaway’s room and his grandfather’s bedroom.

Detectives spoke with Hathaway’s father, who said his son called earlier that day. Hathaway reportedly told his father he was feeling suicidal. He also said he hadn’t been taking his medications.

Hathaway has been committed to Western State Hospital, a state psychiatric hospital, on numerous occasions, court papers said. He has a history of delusions and reported hearing voices. His father told police that Hathaway has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Police also say that Hathaway has a history of using methamphetamine and heroin.

In March, his grandmother called police after Hathaway reportedly assaulted her. She told the officers that her grandson had been playing loud music for hours. She went into his room and told him to turn the music down. She noticed that something had spilled on his desk. She told officers she was helping Hathaway clean up the mess when he grabbed her arm and started screaming at her, according to a Mill Creek police report. Hathaway shoved her toward the door saying something to the effect of, “You don’t love me.”

“He grabbed my arm hard and I was scared he was going to hurt me,” the woman was quoted as telling police.

Hathaway was arrested and charged with fourth-degree domestic violence. The case was delayed while he was involuntarily committed at Western State Hospital because of his mental illness.

Hathaway was in court in August. The prosecutor requested that he not have contact with the victim but the defense attorney objected, saying Hathaway was living with his grandparents. District Court Judge Jeffrey Goodwin agreed not to impose the no-contact order.

Hathaway was due back in court in December. He was in jail but his grandmother attended the hearing. The next day District Court Judge Tam Bui released Hathaway on his personal recognizance. He was ordered to provide proof of his treatment at the next hearing.

Two weeks later the misdemeanor charge was dismissed. Melanie Thomas Dane, an attorney with the Law Offices of Zachor and Thomas, said Tuesday she didn’t have any information about why the charge was dismissed. Her office contracts with Mill Creek for prosecution services.

Hathaway was convicted last year of second-degree burglary, a felony, after he broke into DJ Market, near the house he shared with his grandparents. In August 2013, he had smashed the glass front door and stolen cans of Four Loko, an alcoholic beverage. Hathaway was found near the store. He had cuts to his hands, legs and feet and reeked of alcohol. He was taken to a local hospital, where tests showed that he had a blood alcohol level of .43 — more than five times the legal limit to drive a vehicle.

He was sentenced to two months in jail.

Mill Creek officers warned his grandparents at least twice that they were concerned for the couple’s safety because of their grandson’s age, size and mental instability, court papers said.

At Tuesday’s court appearance, the judge ordered Hathaway to have no contact with his grandfather.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley

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